Restrictions on NHS workers with HIV could be relaxed after a review found an "extremely low" risk of the disease being passed to patients.

England's chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies announced consultations after advisers said UK rules were "out of step" with available evidence.

They found the risk of a patient being infected during the most invasive surgery (such as open heart operations or hysterectomies) was about one in 5 million. It was negligible for less invasive procedures, such as local anaesthetic injections for dental treatment.

Healthcare workers diagnosed with HIV are not allowed to perform most surgical or dental procedures. Those restrictions will remain pending consultations in England, Wales and Scotland.

The Expert Advisory Group on Aids, the UK Advisory Panel of Healthcare Workers Infected with Blood-borne Viruses and the Advisory Group on Hepatitis found no reported transmissions of HIV from healthcare workers.

Almost 10,000 patients have been tested after treatment by infected healthcare workers since 1988. The advisory groups said few other countries had such tight restrictions as the UK.

In September, the Department of Health announced gay men would be able to give blood when restrictions are lifted later this year.

A lifetime ban on blood donation by men who have had sex with another man was put in place in the UK in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV.

Davies said: "Patient safety is always our top priority. Our knowledge and understanding and the treatment of HIV have all developed enormously over the last 25 years. It is right that we now consider our current guidelines to reflect what the science is telling us about the risk of HIV transmission from healthcare workers with HIV to patients.

"There are currently around 110 healthcare workers with HIV in England who might be affected by the current restrictions.

"We need to ensure that the guidelines and restrictions imposed are evidence-based and achieve a fair balance between patient safety and the rights and responsibilities of healthcare workers with HIV.

"This consultation will seek wide views on the expert advice and whether it should be accepted."

The chairman of the Expert Advisory Group on Aids, Professor Brian Gazzard, said: "I welcome this consultation. Our careful review of the evidence suggests that the current restrictions on healthcare workers with HIV are now out of step with evidence about the minimal risk of transmission of infection to patients and policies in most other countries.

"This risk can be reduced even further if the healthcare worker is taking effective drug therapy for HIV and being monitored by HIV and occupational health specialists."

Sir Nick Partridge, the chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "It's right to review these restrictions in the light of modern evidence. We know far more now about HIV and its transmission than we did when these rules were made.

"We look forward to their reform, so that highly trained healthcare workers are no longer needlessly lost to the NHS."